Tega Cay council approves purchase of Utilities, Inc. system

Decades of sewage overflows in older part of Tega Cay are likely coming to an end.

Tega Cay City Council Thursday approved the city’s $5.85 million purchase of the ailing private system owned by Illinois-based Utilities, Inc.

The Asset Purchase Agreement to buy the system is now in the hands of City Manager Charlie Funderburk. Funderburk and city staff have spent the last two weeks wrapping up due diligence and research into the city’s proposed purchase which will require $6.5 million in upgrades after the city takes ownership of the system.

“We will not have the whole system fixed in one day,” Tega Cay Mayor George Sheppard said. “There is no silver bullet to fix this system.”

Sheppard said he expects the city’s upgrades and fixes to the system to take up to five years to complete. Residents on the former Utilities, Inc. system will likely pay up to $3 more per month to help recover the special maintenance.

Sheppard said Tega Cay residents will be the ones who will benefit most from the city’s takeover.

“You no longer have an absentee landlord, which you have with Utilities, Inc.,” Sheppard said. “You’re gonna have five members of council who are gonna go to the Harris Teeter, who are going to go to the Walmart. You’re going to see them in the milk aisle. So if there’s a problem with your utility system you’re going to be asking them.”